In order to make a normal-sized record, a singer songwriter should have a couple dozen finished songs. Once they go through the process of production, the ones that scream out at you that they're finished are the ones that make the record.

I like using concrete imagery, but I don't feel that's what it's about. It's a combination of concrete and abstract to take the listener somewhere they know better than you. That's true for music, seeing a painting, watching a movie... it's all some kind of an escape.

I went every Sunday to church when I was growing up, and I think that music had an affect on me before my memory can recall.

I believe in working with songs that have personal value for me.

From a very early age, I started to get really interested in how songs were put to tape. Not just listening to the songs, but the way the songs were recorded.

I always prefer other people's interpretations over my own, so I'm not very quick to make explicit what exactly a song or record is about.

The best live recordings capture elements of surprise onstage.